Published 4:00 am, Thursday, June 16, 2005

Canada expected to pass bill approving same-sex marriage / U.S. neighbor would become the third country to do so

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Canada is on track toward becoming the largest country yet to legalize same-sex marriage, after its ruling Liberal government survived four no-confidence votes this week.

It could join the Netherlands and Belgium by next week as the third country to allow two people to marry regardless of gender.

Action on a bill now nearing passage in the House of Commons that defines marriage as "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others" could have been significantly delayed had the Liberals lost any of Tuesday's late-night votes, because that would have triggered formation of a new Parliament. If Parliament doesn't pass the Civil Marriage Law before it leaves for summer recess next Thursday, action will be put off until fall.

"The chances of this bill being passed into law are very good, if not excellent, and the government is squarely committed to seeing it through," Steve MacKinnon, national director of the ruling Liberal Party of Canada, said Tuesday.

Court decisions over the past two years have made same-sex marriages legal in one territory and seven provinces, which together hold 90 percent of Canada's population. The Canadian military performed its first same-sex wedding in May. Parliament's approval would make same-sex marriage available for all 33 million residents across Canada.

Canada does not keep national marriage statistics, but British Columbia's Ministry of Health Services reports that the province has issued just under 2, 000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples since July 2003. This year, 266 Americans have married there, including 53 Californians.

These developments provide sharp contrast to the United States, where Congress has debated a Constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

California gay rights groups say Canada sanctioning gay marriage will have more symbolic than legal or practical effect on American lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people.

"It has had a tremendously positive impact on the LGBT community here," said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. "It has been very encouraging to see marriage equality gained in Canada. It's renewed the determination to see marriage equality gained here."

The president of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C., the largest gay and lesbian organization in the United States, said developments in Canada provide important lessons.

"I think if you look at what has happened in Canada generally, you see the same kinds of things you see in Massachusetts, which are that Canada is still there, life goes on," said John Solomonese. "It hasn't broken away from the continent."

If Parliament passes the Civil Marriage Law, the remaining five provinces and territories in Canada will have to issue a marriage license to any couple that requests one.

"For all intents and purposes, it settles the issue," said Alex Munter, national coordinator for the group Canadians for Equal Marriage. "Once the law is passed, it becomes extremely difficult legally to turn back the clock."

Religious groups in Canada and the opposition Conservative party have fought the bill and remain optimistic they will defeat it.

"I believe that we still have a credible chance of stopping this legislation," said K-John Cheung of Defend Marriage British Columbia, which is part of a national coalition of religious and conservative groups.

Pat O'Brien, a member of Parliament who quit the Liberal party last week over the same-sex marriage bill, gave opponents new hope Tuesday afternoon when he promised to vote against the government in the confidence votes if the bill was not delayed until fall. But O'Brien's stepped-up opposition was not enough to bring down the government.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote Prime Minister Paul Martin last week saying the legislation was rushed and could challenge basic freedoms of conscience and religion.

Martin gave a forceful speech in support for same-sex marriage when the legislation was introduced in February, saying he wanted all the people of his country to be treated as "equals under the law."

"The rights of Canadians who belong to a minority group must always be protected by virtue of their status as citizens, regardless of their numbers," Martin told Parliament then. "These rights must never be left vulnerable to the impulses of the majority. We embrace freedom and equality in theory, Mr. Speaker. We must also embrace them in fact."

The legislation arose after an appeals court in Ontario struck down restrictions on marriage in June 2003, followed by courts in British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Yukon Territory.

After the Ontario ruling, the government decided to drop its appeals and instead formulate legislation to make same-sex marriage legal nationwide. The bill is now under review by a legislative committee. When it leaves the committee, it will go for a third vote in the House of Commons and then to the Senate, where it also is expected to pass.

Californians may marry in Canada, but Proposition 22, passed by 61 percent of voters in 2000, prevents the state from recognizing same-sex marriages -- performed here, in Canada or elsewhere. A San Francisco judge ruled California's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional this spring. The state appealed that decision, and a hearing is set for fall.

Groups that oppose same-sex marriage in the United States said action by Canada could strengthen the resolve to ban same-sex marriage here.

"I think if anything, it will increase the alarm that most Americans feel over the prospect of same-sex marriage and thereby strengthen the campaigns for state and federal marriage amendments," said Peter Sprigg, vice president of policy for the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C.

Americans might even ignore Canada.

"We have a great momentum that is apart and unaffected by what happens in Canada or other countries," said Carrie Gordon Earll, spokeswoman for Focus on the Family, based in Colorado. "We didn't follow Canada when it came to national health care policy or on a number of social issues."

The move toward a same-sex marriage law

1999: Canadian Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples are covered by common law. Parliament provides for "survivor" entitlements for partners in same-sex couples who receive government benefits. Quebec's provincial legislatures unanimously adopt legislation amending the definition of spouses to include same-sex couples.

2001: Netherlands is first country to legalize same-sex marriage.

2002: Provincial courts in Ontario and Quebec rule that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violates the national Charter. The Canadian government appeals both cases.

2004: San Francisco officials marry same-sex couples for a month until stopped by court order. Massachusetts begins marrying same-sex couples. Yukon Territory and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador legalize a range of types of same-sex unions.

Feb. 1, 2005: The Civil Marriage Law is introduced in Canadian Congress. Known as Bill C-38, it provides Canada's first national definition of marriage, as "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others." The law does not address government benefits or religious marriage.

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